A huge HARVEST THANK YOU to all at St Mary’s Ash Vale, for the wonderful foodbank donations from the Harvest Festival on Sunday.
We collected your gifts on Tuesday and they went out in the food parcels today, with some items left for the parcels on Friday. The Wednesday team fed 22 families with your generous donations today, some large families, some single people in need, food for 61 people in total. And more parcels will go out on Friday to other families too.
Thank you for your support! #AshVillagesFoodParcelsProject
Our web page has more info here: https://ash-vale.org.uk/foodparcels-2/
Our lovely young Foodbank volunteers are a brilliant team. They come and help take in the foodbank stock on Thursday evenings, sort donations, bag up laundry pods and check the fridges. This week, they spent some of their foodbank time on these beautiful donations boxes for our foyer at St Mary’s and some more for The Chapel. Let’s encourage them and fill them up!
We have booked a double stall at the Ash Village Fair on the 28th June. Revd Neil will be doing his legendary pancakes and the Foodbank team are planning a bottle tombola. Can you spare a bottle and pop it in one of the donations boxes please?
Every item donated will go to help the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project, (https://ash-vale.org.uk/foodparcels-2/ ) either in a food parcel, or on the bottle tombola to raise funds for food and toiletries. Thank you for your support!
Join us this Sunday for a wonderful carol service by candlelight, with choir, musicians, readings, and a chance to sing lots of your favourite carols. 6:30pm start, come early for a good seat! Mulled wine and mince pies served afterwards. All Welcome. free / donations appreciated
It’s nearly time for our lovely team at the #AshVillagesFoodParcelsProject to pack the Christmas parcels and take some festive cheer to local people in need. Your help and support with donations, funds, prayers and sharing this appeal far and wide would be greatly appreciated!
If you would like to donate food, toys or gifts , please bring your donations in by the 15th December. You can come to The Chapel (Wharf rd) on Wednesday or Monday 9am-2:30pm or pop in to St Mary’s (Vale Rd) on Friday or Sunday 10:00-13:00. There is a live list of what’s most needed on the App ‘Bank the Food’ if you need inspiration, or simply bring something Christmassy! We love to be able to give out all the Christmas classics from Turkey and parsnips to mince pies, pudding and custard. We also give our presents of sweets, chocolates, winter warmers, new toys, hot water bottles, socks etc, nice toiletries, … all much needed please!
If you would prefer to give funds towards the food that we buy in (fresh veg, turkey, milk, pasta, fruit, tins etc) you can donate online here: https://givealittle.co/c/3ijYS6zC4gbOGqwer2tmdY
We also need volunteers, for gift wrapping and deliveries 16th-20th. If you are interested please contact us on 07730609446 for more details.
Thank you for supporting us in whatever way you can. It really does make all the difference! Let’s bless our neighbours in need in Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham this Christmas.
PS – if you are based locally and need a foodbank referral please contact your local Citizens Advice, GP, school, local churches, social worker, health visitor and other agencies who can refer you to us. We cover Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham. Referrals must be in by 15th December for Christmas, We are closed 25-27 Dec while our volunteers take a well deserved break.
Can you spare 32 seconds to dwnload the “Bank The Food” app onto your smartphone, and find out what your local foodbank most needs? #BankTheFood #32seconds #AshVillagesFoodParcelsProject Thank you!
#PicnicAndPlay takes place again this year at Ash Vale Chapel and we can’t wait to welcome you, for lots of family friendly fun in the sunshine. We have plenty of fun on offer, DJ Martin is doing the disco & games, Revd Neil is planning his legendary pancakes, and we have arts and crafts, games and activities each week from printing to clay, sand and water play, and more in between.
DATES: It’s on the 4 middle Wednesdays in the holidays: 31 July, 7th August, 14th August, 21st August from 11:30am until 3pm (slightly longer this year so it’s easier to work around naps for our littlest customers!)
BOOKING ESSENTIAL text phone or whatsapp to 07730 609446 please so we know you are coming and can cater for the right numbers. (All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult please.)
FOOD: Let us know your choice of sandwich filling for each person when you book (or let us know now if you already booked and we dont have your lunch choice yet). We can offer cheese, ham, vegan humus, cream cheese, jimjam chocolate spread, or jam. Let us know your preference and we will order in accordingly, so there is no waste. Any allergies eg gluten free please let us know before you get here so we can be prepared.
COST: We don’t set a fixed fee, so that all families who want to can join us. We do have a donations link, and we do need donations to help cover our costs, so please if you can bring a cash donation on the day or pop a contiribution on the Give A Little link if possible. The amount you give is up to you, THANK YOU! . https://givealittle.co/c/4BYNqSiaQc0wz1KTSgzKPz
VOLUNTEERS: We are always in need of more helping hands, setting up the gazebos, making the picnics, serving the drinks, leading the crafts, clearing down and cleaning, theres a job for everyone! If you would like to pitch in please get in touch thank you!
Remember to book for Picnic and Play at The Chapel (Wharf Rd, Ash Vale) in the summer holidays and why not bring a friend! #PicnicAndPlay
We need volunteers on Wednesdays this summer to set up / serve food and drinks / run the activities/ clear down. If you can help please see Alex! Thank you xxx
Did you know? Our Ash Villages Food Parcels Proejct received funding from the The Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund to help us keep the project going in 2023/2024. We are so grateful for this government funding, as it makes all the difference for local families. The funding ended in March and we have just finished writing up our end of grant report, so I thought you might like to see a few of the statistics.
I am so incredibly proud of this amazing volunteer team! In 23 weeks they have fed 1300 people. They have been very busy collecting donations, managing the stock, packing and delivering over 400 parcels. The funding we received stocked up the shelves to make sure we could deliver enough food, basic toiletries, and baby bank items to those in urgent need in our local villages of Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham.
Have a guess how many volunteer hours they have racked up between them? We had 32 different volunteers, who worked a total of 373 shifts, donating a staggering 648 hours of their time between them during these 23 weeks. What a huge thing to do for the community. Thank you all so much!
If you would like me to pass on a message to them for you, please email me projectmanager@Ash-Vale.org.uk and I will be sure to share it in our team chat!
We all say “what a lovely community Ash & Ash Vale are” – very true! Would you like to help our wonderful community? Just an hour or so when needed, helping at community events in Ash and Ash Vale such as the Village Fete in June, the Youth Centre (hopefully opening soon), Lakeside Nature Fun Day, Remembrance Day and Fantasia.
For 12 years the Community Street Team have concentrated on engaging with local youngsters between 10 – 16 years to address local anti-social issues. We have engaged with the youth, listen to them and try to suggest alternative routes for their lifestyle.
As a result of Anti Social Behaviour having been reduced successfully, we are now planning to “morph” into a more community-focussed group with some volunteers continuing “Outings” but now some members also giving greater assistance at local events i.e Village Fete, Lakeside Nature Reserve Event, Remembrance Day Parades and Christmas Fantasia.
If you would like to help please contact Pat Scott scott.lpd@outlook.com or (01252) 324941. I look hearing from you.
This is wonderful news! The local Food Parcels team would like to say a big thank you to everyone who voted for us recently on the Co-op Communtiy page! Your votes have helped us to raise £1,171.07 so far, to help feed local families in crisis.
Please keep voting! Every vote for St Mary’s means more funding for the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project. We need as many votes as possible before 24th October 2024, to secure further funding from the Co-op community fund for winter 2024. Please choose us as your local cause here: https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/76829
Community Forum: Would you like to talk to the community team have your say? Co-op is hosting a community forum on 21st March at the Ash Parish Centre. Local people are welcome to join in and share their views. Book your place and join in to find out more by clicking on this link: Your local Coop Community forum for Ash and the surrounding villages (smartsurvey.co.uk)
